This is why you should try to stay in Phoenix.

[Wildstyle K]

I'll always feed a stray cat if I can.  Since I own a cat, there's usually some cat food around.  By this I mean the dry variety...it's difficult to feet a stray cat moist cat food.  I once fed a stray cat and then ten minutes later, I saw him get hit by a car while trying to cross the street, so I had the satisfaction of knowing an animal had a few minutes of pleasure before leaving this Earth. 

This is why I should try to stay in Phoenix, and remain thankful for what we have going on here, despite the fact that it may not all be as perfect as we wish! Yes, I know we may have some stations here with weak, boring, dry, stale format formula and sound, but at least nothing bad enough to arouse a response from someone here in Phoenix, similar to the one quoted above, like my friends strangers over there in Boston do.

In comparison to other places, in many ways, we could have much more to complain about than we really do. I'm thankful to be where I am right now, geographically, and radiohographically. 

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

radiohographically.

Who or what puts the "ho" in "radiohographically?"

 

[Wildstyle K]

Well, just like there are rules in the english language, where f turns in to v followed by es, or cactus becums cacti if there is less than two,...etc, I have my own grammatical rules for the new words I produce. If "ology" must be added to a word I invent and that word already ends in "o", then a silent h must be added between the last "o" and the "ology", unless that word starts with an L.  ;D

 

[Silkie]

Except after C and sometimes Y

Incidentally I have family in Phoenix, who moved there from PA, so I know somewhat that of which you speak.

 

[formeraa]

Honestly, I would take Boston talk radio in a heartbeat over the idiocy we have here. Apparently, "critical thinking" is not a strong skill among talk show hosts here.

 

[ykw]

Honestly, I would take Boston talk radio in a heartbeat over the idiocy we have here. Apparently, "critical thinking" is not a strong skill among talk show hosts here.

I'll take the locals at either KFYI or KT'R over the trainwreck that is WRKO any day of the week, and twice on Sundays... even the backbenchers here are better than anything available there (except the three or four days a month Howie deigns to host his own program -- "suspension", my Aunt Fanny).

 

[radioguy39nj]

Honestly, I would take Boston talk radio in a heartbeat over the idiocy we have here. Apparently, "critical thinking" is not a strong skill among talk show hosts here.

I'll take the locals at either KFYI or KT'R over the trainwreck that is WRKO any day of the week, and twice on Sundays... even the backbenchers here are better than anything available there (except the three or four days a month Howie deigns to host his own program -- "suspension", my Aunt Fanny).

The locals at KTAR and KFYI are better than anything in NYC! In NYC, local talk is virtually non-existent! WABC is 100% syndicated Mon-Fri. The only time they say "New York" is on a station ID.

 

[icybluelake]

Non-existent, well, nearly. WOR has some local talk, but it's mostly syndicated as well. Our local NPR stations also have some local talk as well--which is great--but that's about it. Sad state of affairs, IMO.

 

[radioguy39nj]

Non-existent, well, nearly. WOR has some local talk, but it's mostly syndicated as well. Our local NPR stations also have some local talk as well--which is great--but that's about it. Sad state of affairs, IMO.

Very true! Just making sure someone else noticed! WOR's only local programming is John Gambling (continuing a family dynasty) in AM Drive and Joan Hamburg in Middays. Everything else is syndicated. WNYM (Salem's AM970 The Apple) has Curtis Sliwa live and local in AM Drive. Everything else is national. The only time WABC sounds like a New York radio station is on weekends with Mark Simone, Bob Grant and Larry Kudlow. That is until Citadel decides to syndicate Simone and Kudlow nationally, which wouldn't surprise me. Despite WABC's near disregard of New York area issues, the station is still profitable and has a high rating (4.2), well ahead of WOR. WNYM is barely visible in the ratings.

I agree this is a sad state of affairs, made worse by the fact that this is the state of talkradio in New York, the country's largest market. When I log on to KTAR, as a listener I get the idea this station's first priority is the Phoenix market and the events that affect it. New York doesn't have a news/talk station like this and that's disturbing. :-[

 

[Nik]

New York doesn't have a news/talk station like this and that's disturbing. :-[

I'm sure they do, you just don't speak Farsi, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Indo-Aryan, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Saraiki, Kashmiri, Kurdish, Aramaic, Dravidian, Austronesian, Sinhalese, Tamil, Masri...

 

[landtuna]

New York doesn't have a news/talk station like this and that's disturbing. :-[

I'm sure they do, you just don't speak Farsi, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Indo-Aryan, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Saraiki, Kashmiri, Kurdish, Aramaic, Dravidian, Austronesian, Sinhalese, Tamil, Masri...

HA! I'd love to hear some of those languages with a Brooklyn accent.

 

[KMGX]

I would reluctantly take Phoenix local talkers over Boston but that's sort of a pick your poison topic really. On the other hand, sports talk in Boston is VASTLY superior to that of the Phoenix market... actually, this market ranks somewhere around Grand Forks, ND in terms of it's sports talk, there are perhaps two good shows locally here. Naturally, I would expect a weak sports market to have weak sports talk; Doug and Wolf would be lucky to be overnight board ops in Boston.

 

[radioguy39nj]

New York doesn't have a news/talk station like this and that's disturbing. :-[

I'm sure they do, you just don't speak Farsi, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Indo-Aryan, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Saraiki, Kashmiri, Kurdish, Aramaic, Dravidian, Austronesian, Sinhalese, Tamil, Masri...

HA! I'd love to hear some of those languages with a Brooklyn accent.

None of those languages have their own talk station in NY.

 

[radioguy39nj]

I would reluctantly take Phoenix local talkers over Boston but that's sort of a pick your poison topic really. On the other hand, sports talk in Boston is VASTLY superior to that of the Phoenix market... actually, this market ranks somewhere around Grand Forks, ND in terms of it's sports talk, there are perhaps two good shows locally here. Naturally, I would expect a weak sports market to have weak sports talk; Doug and Wolf would be lucky to be overnight board ops in Boston.

IMHO, markets with long-established teams are more likely to have better sports talk radio, simply because of their history and roots in the community. Phoenix is a market that is filled with transplants who may now live in The Valley, but whose sports loyalties stayed wherever they came from.

 

[ykw]

IMHO, markets with long-established teams are more likely to have better sports talk radio, simply because of their history and roots in the community. Phoenix is a market that is filled with transplants who may now live in The Valley, but whose sports loyalties stayed wherever they came from.

Phoenix has had terrific sports-talkers, from Lee Hamilton to Tom Dillon to Golic & Jacobs to (yes, I'm serious) Spanier, among others. The problem isn't the transience of the AZ sports fan; it's the transience of the radio guys. The long-term trend here is that these guys do great things in Phoenix and then get gigs that take them away from sports-talk (PBP, news-talk) or take them away from the valley for a top-five market or a national gig.

The market here simply isn't big enough or lucrative enough to keep top-flight sports-talkers around for very long. There's enough money still left in Boston radio (in Boston radio sports, at least), and the desire not to work in NYC is sufficient, that they can keep their big names in Beantown. Especially since they aren't exactly on a hiring spree in Bristol these days...

 

[KeithE4]

Phoenix has had terrific sports-talkers, from Lee Hamilton to Tom Dillon to Golic & Jacobs to (yes, I'm serious) Spanier, among others. The problem isn't the transience of the AZ sports fan; it's the transience of the radio guys. The long-term trend here is that these guys do great things in Phoenix and then get gigs that take them away from sports-talk (PBP, news-talk) or take them away from the valley for a top-five market or a national gig.

Gambo & Ash are still the best sports-yakkers in the market. Kevin McCabe and Bob Kemp are the best hosts nobody listens to (both should be on KTAR, not what's left of KDUS).

Unfortunately, they're about it. Doug & Wolf are fighting for the Dumberer and Dumberest Award, with Mac & Gaydos and Daron Sutton & Mark Grace being the other contending tag-teams of idiocy. Bickley & MJ aren't what they used to be (OK, Bickley never was). But then again, neither is XTRA 910, which seems to exist solely to carry Screamin' A. Hole and Jim Rome.

The market here simply isn't big enough or lucrative enough to keep top-flight sports-talkers around for very long. There's enough money still left in Boston radio (in Boston radio sports, at least), and the desire not to work in NYC is sufficient, that they can keep their big names in Beantown. Especially since they aren't exactly on a hiring spree in Bristol these days...

Another problem is content. Phoenix sports talk is, with the recent exception of the Suns' playoff run, All Cardinals, All the Time. Well, most of the time anyway - my rough estimate is that it's about 60% Cards, 20% Suns, 15% Diamondbacks, and 15% a combination of Coyotes, ASU, and Tiger Woods.

If the Suns weren't in the NBA Conference Finals right now, all the stations would be talking about Darnell Dockett's "public shower" today, with maybe a little talk about what passes for a Diamondbacks bullpen.